Tag: Antares

  • Aotearoa Arrival: Opua Marina, Northland

    Tied up to the Opua, Aotearoa (New Zealand) Q-dock at 4:20pm, just in time for the Customs and Biosecurity to inform us that we were the first on their list for the next day. In some ways this was a relief – nothing to do but celebrate our arrival as a family with fresh tuna…

  • Day 7: Land ho! Aotearoa!

    Overnight, just motoring along with no wind, finally dropped that current against us and making good time. It will be close to closing time at the Opua Q-dock, not sure if we’ll make it in time. There is a stream of boats coming from Fiji, Tonga, and New Cal to New Zealand; all of us…

  • Day 6: Passage New Cal to New Zealand

    Overnight, a battery alarm on our starboard engine kept going off. Chris tried a few things but was exhausted and a bit seasick to dig in. We decided to run just the port engine overnight and, with current against us, moved along at a slow 4 knots. Once Chris got up for his 4am watch,…

  • Day 5: Passage New Cal to New Zealand

    Woke up to Chris at the helm, enjoying an excellent sail toward our destination. Winds a perfect 18-20 knots at our fastest point of sail. Seas (both swells from two directions and wind waves) present, but not uncomfortable. We are enjoying the wind while we have it! Even had a small cup of coffee (hadn’t…

  • Day 4: Passage New Cal to New Zealand

    Woke up to a continued current ride, seas forward of the beam, but moving fast – great sailing angle and still with the magical current. We’ve done a great job getting east away from the squall line and now we can correct a bit to south. Ahhhh, what a difference 15 degrees makes – our…

  • Day 2: Passage New Cal to New Zealand

    Overnight, the bucking bronco sensation of the boat (vertical acceleration), combined with the total darkness, caused Cora and I to feel quite seasick. I made it through 3 hours and 15 min of my 4 hour watch, but then had to pass it off early to lay down. Calder saw a brief heavy rainsquall. Otherwise,…

  • Day 1: New Cal to New Zealand

    At 8:25am, we left our mooring ball at Ilot Amendee, next stop Opua, New Zealand (with a possible stop at Norfolk Island along the way). Trying some different seasickness meds for Cora, as the scopolamine patch itself doesn’t make her feel well. While passage planning and looking at all the different variables in this crossing,…

  • New Caledonia: Ilot Exploration

    Hadn’t expected much for wind, but ended up having a truly “dreamy sail” from Ile des Pins to Ilot Ua, steady light winds with minimal seas and clear skies. We had planned on doing lots of wing-foiling in New Caledonia, but instead have been given flat calm seas, lagoons of pure calm turquoise waters, wonderful…

  • Noumea, New Caledonia: Where Cultures Converge

    New Caledonia is a place of mind-bending contrasts — somehow both French and Oceanian, European and Melanesian. Floating in the middle of the Coral Sea, it’s a French overseas territory whose main island, Grande Terre, stretches 400 kilometers in length, a rugged spine of mountains running like a backbone through the center. Along its edges…

  • Day 4: Arrival New Caledonia!

    Calder awoke to the announcement, “Fish On!” He jumped out of bed and started reeling. A morning gift from the sea of a large wahoo that will feed us many meals. So thankful! Just after Calder finished processing the first one, the line whirred again – another wahoo! This one spit out a squid beak,…